Ann Coulter.....One of top conservatives

Only the second of those alleged facts is true: The president's release of the Department of Justice interrogation memos undoubtedly hurt America's image abroad, as we are snickered at in capitals around the world, where they know what real torture is. The Arabs surely view these memos as a pack of lies. What about the pills Americans have to turn us gay?

The techniques used against the most stalwart al-Qaida members, such as Abu Zubaydah, included one terrifying procedure referred to as "the attention grasp." As described in horrifying detail in the Justice Department memo, the "attention grasp" consisted of:

"(G)rasping the individual with both hands, one hand on each side of the collar opening, in a controlled and quick motion. In the same motion as the grasp, the individual is drawn toward the interrogator."

The end............................... Read more: http://www.anncoulter.com/

Good riddance Sen. Arlen Specter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/28/AR2009042801523_pf.html

By Chris Cillizza and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 5:43 PM

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch parties and run for reelection in November 2010 as a Democrat, he announced today, a decision that could have wide-ranging consequences for the Senate and President Obama's agenda.

Specter told reporters that he received a "bleak" poll Friday from his advisers that showed virtually no chance of him winning in the GOP primary next spring against Pat Toomey, a former Republican House member who recently led the conservative Club for Growth.

He said that the loss of several hundred thousand GOP voters who left the party in 2008 to vote in the Democratic presidential primary left the Pennsylvania Republican Party too conservative to support a moderate such as him. "I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican Party," Specter said.

After more than 28 years in the Senate, Specter acknowledged he was "not prepared to have that record" obliterated by the conservative primary electorate. He reached the decision over the weekend in consultation with his family and top aides, many of whom are staying with him despite his party switch.

He said informed Republican and Democratic Senate leaders about dinnertime last night.

The move brings Democrats to 59 seats in the Senate, just one shy of the 60 they need to exert filibuster-proof control over the chamber. In Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken holds a 312-vote lead over former senator Norm Coleman (R), but Coleman has appealed the result to the state Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the case are expected to begin in June.

Nonetheless, Specter remains an independent voice on many issues, opposing a union organizing bill that is key to many labor groups and rejecting Obama's choice to run a key legal advisory section of the Justice Department. "I will not be an automatic 60th vote," he said.

Specter's announcement, coming on the eve of Obama's 100th day in office, sent shockwaves through political circles.

Specter called the White House this morning to inform Obama of his decision but the president was busy getting his daily economic briefing. When he received a note shortly afterward that Specter was switching parties, the president quickly returned the call, recalled a top adviser who was in the room at the time.

Specter said he received the president's full blessing to run in the Democratic primary largely uncontested next April. "He said he would support me, come to Pennsylvania to campaign for me," Specter said.

Vice President Biden, a long-time friend of Specter's who had counseled him about switching parties, issued a statement late this afternoon saying, "I welcome my old friend to the Democratic Party. Senator Arlen Specter is a man of remarkable courage and integrity. I know he will remain a powerful and independent voice for Pennsylvania and the country."

Republicans immediately sought to cast Specter's move as nothing more than the politics of self-preservation. "Let's be honest -- Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind," said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. "He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Specter told him last night that he was likely to make the shift, then called the Democratic leader this morning to confirm that his decision was final. Reid credited Biden for playing an important behind-the-scenes role in softening Specter's resistance. Reid also said he and Specter "have had a long dialogue about his place in an evolving Republican Party" and praised his willingness to "work in a bipartisan manner, put people over party, and do what is right for Pennsylvanians and all Americans."

Specter will receive his seniority among Democrats as if he had been elected as a Democrat in 1980, when he rode into office on the coattails of Ronald Reagan's conservative revolution. That effectively means Specter will become chairman of a key subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee, probably the one overseeing the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. Specter also acknowledged that becoming full appropriations committee chairman -- something that could take another six to 10 years -- "is something I'd like to attain."

As the Senate was wrapping up a procedural vote on popular anti-fraud legislation yesterday evening -- a vote forced upon the chamber by a bloc of hard-line Senate conservatives -- Specter stood by the doorway at the north end of the chamber leading to Reid's office suite on the second floor of the Capitol. According to a Democratic observer, Reid and Specter left the chamber together, entering the majority leader's offices for a private huddle in which Specter confirmed the party switch.

After making the announcement today, Specter turned aside all questions from reporters as he cast a vote on the Senate floor, then joined his wife Joan and son Shanin in the Senate dining room for lunch. He then made a five-minute appearance in the weekly Republican luncheon in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room, off the Senate floor, where his entrance was greeted with a stony silence.

Specter's political standing in Pennsylvania has become increasingly tenuous in recent years. His track record as a moderate combined with the shrinking Republican base in the Keystone State were likely to make a general election difficult, and Toomey, who came within two points of defeating Specter in the 2004 primary, is running again. Polling showed him with a double-digit edge over Specter in a GOP primary.

The move was the latest blow to an already staggering GOP. Senate Republican leaders appeared ashen at a press conference this afternoon. "Obviously, we are not happy that Senator Specter has decided to become a Democrat," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Flanked by GOP colleagues who stared straight ahead, McConnell said Specter visited him in his Senate office late yesterday afternoon "and told me quite candidly that he'd been informed by his pollster that it would be impossible for him to be reelected in Pennsylvania as a Republican because he could not win the primary; and he was also informed by his pollster that he could not get elected as an independent, and indicated that he had decided to become a Democrat."

Grasping for some positive spin on an otherwise catastrophic setback, McConnell warned that Specter's defection could cripple Republican efforts "to restrain the excess that is typically associated with big majorities and single-party rule." He said the pressure would shift to Democrats from conservative states to provide the checks and balances that Senate Republicans would now struggle to provide.

McConnell rejected Specter's assertion that the Republican Party had shifted so far to the right that moderate lawmakers were no longer viable candidates in swing states. "This is not a national story. This is a Pennsylvania story," McConnell said. He said Specter "came to our meeting and talked to us, indicated to me yesterday . . . and again this morning, that he didn't have any problem whatsoever with the way he'd been treated by the Republican conference here in the Senate."

Other moderate Republicans acknowledged they, too, have been approached about changing parties. Sen. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, the Maine Republicans who along with Specter provided the three pivotal votes for Obama's $787 billion stimulus legislation, both said today they have been approached. Neither would comment about how recent the overtures were, although Collins said she has been asked roughly four times during her 12 years in the Senate to consider becoming a Democrat.

"It's something I would never do," she said.

Snowe called Specter's decision "devastating news" for Republicans, particularly Northeastern Republicans who have almost vanished in the Senate during the past decade. "Many Republicans feel alienated and disaffected from the party," Snowe said. "It just helps nourish a culture of exclusion and alienation."

Snowe recalled then-Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, who switched from being a Republican to an independent caucusing with Democrats in 2001. That was a more dramatic switch that flipped power from Republicans to Democrats in the chamber. "Frankly, the party never woke up from that event," she said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a prominent conservative who was John McCain's staunchest supporter in his 2008 GOP presidential campaign, warned that the party has become regionalized in its mentality. "We have to find places in the party for people who couldn't win in South Carolina," he told reporters.

In his remarks to reporters, Specter flashed one brief moment of anger when asked about the role the national Republican Party played in his decision, suggesting his rematch against Toomey will be one filled with a personal vendetta.

He complained about inaction by GOP leaders in Washington when social and fiscal conservatives -- largely funded by the group Club for Growth -- challenged moderate Republicans in primaries. He cited four different races in which the Club for Growth had weighed in and helped a conservative challenger. Each of those seats -- in Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico and Rhode Island -- is now held by a Democrat.

"There ought to be a rebellion, there ought to be an uprising," he said.

Senior White House officials said the decision to switch was Specter's, and he was not lobbied heavily by members of Obama's administration.

"Everyone wanted to give him the space to work things out for himself," a top White House aide said. "We did not dispatch anyone with a basket of goodies."

The one exception was the vice president. In the 10 weeks since the president signed the stimulus bill, Biden has met with Specter face-to-face six times and talked on the phone at least eight times, advisers said.

People close to Biden said the vice president has been urging Specter to make the switch for years. But they said the conversations intensified during the past several weeks as Biden watched political developments in Pennsylvania.

"They certainly talked about the fact that both the vice president and the president would be happy to go to bat for Sen. Specter in every way possible," a top adviser to Biden said.

As Biden pressed his case, aides said he "regularly informed" Obama about the conversations, telling the president recently that he was cautiously optimistic about the prospects.

" 'I talked to Arlan,' " Biden would tell the president, one aide recalled. " 'Still working on him. Still working on him.' [Obama] was obviously aware," the aide recalled.

Specter tried to call Biden early this morning to inform him before news leaked. But aides said the two were unable to connect because Biden was in Texas for an event at the National Domestic Violence Hotline Center.

They talked later in the day.

It was not immediately clear what Specter's decision would do to the Democratic field in next year's Senate race in Pennsylvania. Joe Torsella, the former head of the National Constitution Center, was already seeking the Democratic nomination and raised roughly $600,000 for his bid in the first three months of 2009.

Toomey becomes the odds-on favorite to be the Republican nominee. Toomey held the competitive 15th district for three terms before giving up his seat to challenge Specter in the 2004 primary. He is a favorite of conservatives in the state, but it remains unclear how competitive he will be given the clear advantage Democrats now enjoy in Pennsylvania.

Assuming the court sides with Franken in Minnesota, it will mark the first time since the 95th Congress -- 1977 to 1979 -- that Democrats have controlled 60 or more Senate seats.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement that the GOP would seek to make the 2010 election a referendum on whether voters wanted Democrats to have unchecked control of Congress. "While this presents a short-term disappointment, voters next year will have a clear choice to cast their ballots for a potentially unbridled Democrat super-majority versus the system of checks-and-balances that Americans deserve," Cornyn said. Earlier this month, Cornyn wrote a letter to Pennsylvania Republicans urging them to rally around Specter, calling him the only GOP nominee who could hold the seat.

Fixing The Economy !!!!!

This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.

The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America 's economy. Instead

of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money

on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can

call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. - Pay them

$1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following

stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered - Auto

Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing

Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their constituents pay their taxes....

OBAMA PLANE PHOTO OP

A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.
It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.

Now I ask this: How low can they go? It cost $70,000.00 an hour to operated the fighter jet and all for a photo op..while Americans are hurting.....getting laid off..losing their jobs.....and trying to put food on the table and and providing and taking care of their families!
Yes how low can they go?!

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272009/news/regionalnews/obama_plane_photo_op_startles_new_yorker_166470.htm

Partnership for America's Energy Security!

Our nation faces economic and energy challenges, and increased access to oil and natural gas can play a pivotal role in helping us meet these challenges. By participating in the Partnership, you can help correct misperceptions about our nation's energy supply and provide elected officials with crucial information for developing positive energy policies.

http://www.partnershipforenergy.org/default.aspx

Grand Children will be deep in debt

Here are those who will have to pay for what the idiots in Congress are saddling them with.
Yes I am talking about the debt that they will be saddled with.
These low life's are saddling my grand kids as well as all the rest of America's grand kids with unimaginable debt that they will have to pay back.

Senator's husband cashes in on crisis

On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband's real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms.

Mrs. Feinstein's intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn't a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments - not direct federal dollars.

Documents reviewed by The Washington Times show Mrs. Feinstein first offered Oct. 30 to help the FDIC secure money for its effort to stem the rise of home foreclosures. Her letter was sent just days before the agency determined that CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) - the commercial real estate firm that her husband Richard Blum heads as board chairman - had won the competitive bidding for a contract to sell foreclosed properties that FDIC had inherited from failed banks.

About the same time of the contract award, Mr. Blum's private investment firm reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it and related affiliates had purchased more than 10 million new shares in CBRE. The shares were purchased for the going price of $3.77; CBRE's stock closed Monday at $5.14.

Spokesmen for the FDIC, Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Blum's firm told The Times that there was no connection between the legislation and the contract signed Nov. 13, and that the couple didn't even know about CBRE's business with FDIC until after it was awarded.

Senate ethics rules state that members must avoid conflicts of interest as well as "even the appearance of a conflict of interest." Some ethics analysts question whether Mrs. Feinstein ran afoul of the latter provision, creating the appearance that she was rewarding the agency that had just hired her husband's firm.

"This clearly gives the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Kent Cooper, a former federal regulator who specializes in government ethics and disclosures. "To maintain the people's trust in government, it is incumbent on a legislator to take the extra steps necessary to ensure that when she introduces any legislation that it does not cause people to question her motives or the business activities of her spouse."

Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Blum, a wealthy investment banker, are a power couple in both Washington and California who sat behind President Obama during his inauguration in January. Mrs. Feinstein also is mentioned as a candidate for California governor.

Excerpt from the Washington Times:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/21/senate-husbands-firm-cashes-in-on-crisis/

Obama Gets History Lesson From Latin American Leaders

Latin American leaders railed against the U.S. during President's first trip to the region, turning what was intended to mark a new direction in relations into a history lesson that chastised “Yankee troop” interventions and U.S.-dictated economic policies.

Yet....................................................Barack trashes America ( The great country ) which has given him every opportunity to have a great life.......One that he is free to trash...One that he dumbs down in front of all the dictatorships and low life nations who would seek to do us great harm.

Remember ladies and gentlemen this man seeks to take America down the path of (Markist).

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people";
and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of
federal power as being that specifically granted by the
Constitution of the United States and no more; and
WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment
means that the federal government was created by the states
specifically to be an agent of the states; and
WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated
as agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of
the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union
of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal
government may not usurp; and
WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says,
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a
Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth Amendment states that
"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people";
and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New
York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not
simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the
states; and
WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations
and some now pending from the present administration and from
congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise
enumerated and granted to the federal government by the
Constitution of the United States; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal
government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective
immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these
constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that
directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal
penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation
or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.

Author: Celia

God bless our Troops!

It's a sad day in America when our seasoned men and women come home to a rude welcome- from the VERY ONES they protect every day. It puts me in mind when this country was young and fighting for her independence from Britain. I'm sure they considered the colonists "Extremists" back then, too. But it didn't stop us from fighting and winning our independence.

And it should not stop us now. We have a rich heritage and a big legacy that we must protect, defend, and live up to.

I encourage each and every American to hold fast to the liberty granted us by our forefathers. Don't give an inch! We owe them and ourselves that much and more.

God bless America!